New Year’s Message

Tetsuo Yamakawa

President
The ITU Association of JapanB

est wishes to all in this New Year!
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine which began in 2022 hascontinued to expand in 2023 and with the outbreak of
the Palestinian conflict, the concepts of peace and harmony arebeing questioned deeply. With continuing economic uncertainty
and regional disputes, it will be critical to focus our wisdom andcooperative abilities to face these difficult conditions in order torestore stability in the world.
Last year, the ITU-AJ participated in meetings of theInternational Telecommunications Union (ITU) and the Asia-PacificTelecommunity (APT), including the APT General Assembly (GA16) and the APT Management Committee Meeting (MC-47), heldin Bangkok Thailand from November 6 to 11. There, Masanori
Kondo was re-elected to the position of APT Secretary General, aposition he has held for three years. We celebrate this achievement
and hope for the best in his efforts in the coming three years. TheITU Radiocommunication Assembly 2023 (RA-23) and the ITUWorld Radiocommunication Conference 2023 (WRC-23) werealso held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, from November 13 to
December 15, and three vice-chair candidates from Japan wereselected at the RA. The ITU-AJ also provided administrative supportin Dubai for these meetings.
The Mobile World Congress (MWC) was an ICT event heldin Barcelona Spain from February 27 to March 2, including a Japan
Pavilion presented by 11 Japanese companies. The ITU-AJ supported
international expansion of Japanese ICT enterprises through exhibits
in the pavilion. Another notable event was CEATEC, which washeld at Makuhari Messe from October 17 to 20, where Ukraine
exhibited and presented lectures for the first time.
Wit h i n t he I T U-AJ, we held ou r a n nua l “ WorldTelecommunication and Information Society” Ceremony on May
17 at the Keio Plaza Hotel, which was also streamed online. At
the ceremony, Yoshio MIYADERA (Japan Radio Co. Ltd.), whodrove and supported standardization of marine radio communication
technologies at international organizations including ITU and IMO,
received a MIC Minister’s Award. The Starlink team from SpaceX
also received a Special Achievement Award, with a keynote speech
given by Lauren Dreyer, who came to Japan to receive the award
representing SpaceX. A further 14 individuals and one organization
received Accomplishment Awards, and 15 individuals and one
organization received Encouragement Awards. We offer our heartfelt
congratulations to all of these recipients.

For training, the APT training office held a network planningcourse aimed at eliminating the digital divide from October 11 to 20,
inviting nine participants from nine countries. This was the first faceto-face training course in four years since COVID-19 began.
Themes of diversity and inclusion have also gained prominence
recently. As ICT technologies continue to advance, I hope Japan will
also expand “Diversity and Inclusion” by developing and expanding
services related to 5G, beyond 5G (6G), Local 5G and AI.
With the ITU this year, the World Telecommunication
Standardization Assembly 2024 (WTSA-24) will be held from
October 15 to 24 in New Delhi, India. While we hope to invite theassembly back to Japan soon, the ITU-AJ will continue to collaborate
with relevant parties on ITU and APT assemblies and events,
adapting to requirements with flexibility based on our past experience.
Within the ITU-AJ, we will continue operation of our Japan
Platform for Driving Digital Development (JPD3), which began in2020. In February, we plan to hold a new type of course for humanresource development at British Hills in Fukushima, to improve skills
in international negotiation. By also publishing the online monthly,“ITU Journal,” and the English quarterly, “New Breeze,” inviting
experts to speak at research conferences, and holding informational
meetings that gather a cross-section of people involved in ITU-related
businesses, the ITU-AJ will continue collaboration so that it can bea platform for interaction among the ITU, the Japanese government,and each of the supporting members.
I wish you all a sincere Happy New Year and good health in thecoming year.
■ APT General Assembly, Election of Masanori Kondo as
Secretary General

New Breeze Winter 20243